peter yetman
Flashlight Enthusiast
I screwed up the Led / Driver Board connections when I was removing the head from the body of my P2X.
Rather than dump the light I decided to convert it to Direct Drive run an XM-L2 on an AW 18650 with a bored Cryos body, it was easy, here's how..
Once the head is removed, see other threads for methods. I used a blowtorch. I use this method for freeing the stainless joints in my Brewery pipework, which is all Loctited. Heat the joint until you see a whiff of smoke and smell a sweet smell. The loctite will have turned to powder and the head can be removed. Don't heat for too long or the Ano will change colour.
I don't know what effect this will have on the Led, I didn't care as I was replacing it.
Remove the driver board, then remove the bezel ring / lens (blowtorch), reflector and Led Board. You are left with a bare head which is divided internally by what I'm going to call a Bulkhead with 4 holes in.
Get a new Led Star ( I used a Cree XM-L2 7000k) and solder about 8 ins of thermal wire onto the +ve and -ve terminals. Squirt thermal paste onto the bulkhead and feed the wires through it. Seat the Star on the bulkhead and replace the reflector and bezel head / lens. Don't worry too much about centering the Led at this stage.
To make to battery connections I used an old Solarforce P60 Dropin. If you remove the star from the pill you can poke the circuit board out that has the +ve spring mounted on it. I scraped the resistor(?) off the back of the board and sanded it clean.
You will need some sort of disc with a hole in the middle like a washer that will seat in the recess on the battery side of the bulkhead. I used an aluminium disc from an old Peli which fitted just right, it's about 3mm thick. Driil a hole near the edge of the disc to pass the -ve wire through. Glue the Spring Board onto the washer so that the +ve wire can be soldered onto the central terminal on the board. The negative terminal is going to be the large spring from the Dropin. Check that the +ve disk fits in the recess and pop the large spring around it fit the body and make sure all fits properly, you may need to shorten the -ve spring to make the body screw right down. Also check that the battery is close enough to contact the switch. I used an Oveready Zerorez as this setup overheats the stock SF switch.
Once you are happy with the fit, disassemble, and solder the +ve wire to the +ve on the Spring Board pass the -ve wire through the hole in the disc that you made, bear the wire to expose 1/2 in of wire and wrap the wire around the spring wire and solder. Keep the wires as short as you can, and dress them inside the recess when you assemble the head. Once you are happy with the mod you can glue the +ve disk to the bulkhead.
Fit the body and you're done. Check that the Led is centered. This runs well on an Aw 18650 with a bored body, don't use a higher voltage or the Led will fry.
The light from the modded light is similar to the light from a P3X, same beam and a bit brighter.
I've just dedomed my Led the throw is more like a Malkoff Hound Dog than a P3X.
Rather than dump the light I decided to convert it to Direct Drive run an XM-L2 on an AW 18650 with a bored Cryos body, it was easy, here's how..
Once the head is removed, see other threads for methods. I used a blowtorch. I use this method for freeing the stainless joints in my Brewery pipework, which is all Loctited. Heat the joint until you see a whiff of smoke and smell a sweet smell. The loctite will have turned to powder and the head can be removed. Don't heat for too long or the Ano will change colour.
I don't know what effect this will have on the Led, I didn't care as I was replacing it.
Remove the driver board, then remove the bezel ring / lens (blowtorch), reflector and Led Board. You are left with a bare head which is divided internally by what I'm going to call a Bulkhead with 4 holes in.
Get a new Led Star ( I used a Cree XM-L2 7000k) and solder about 8 ins of thermal wire onto the +ve and -ve terminals. Squirt thermal paste onto the bulkhead and feed the wires through it. Seat the Star on the bulkhead and replace the reflector and bezel head / lens. Don't worry too much about centering the Led at this stage.
To make to battery connections I used an old Solarforce P60 Dropin. If you remove the star from the pill you can poke the circuit board out that has the +ve spring mounted on it. I scraped the resistor(?) off the back of the board and sanded it clean.
You will need some sort of disc with a hole in the middle like a washer that will seat in the recess on the battery side of the bulkhead. I used an aluminium disc from an old Peli which fitted just right, it's about 3mm thick. Driil a hole near the edge of the disc to pass the -ve wire through. Glue the Spring Board onto the washer so that the +ve wire can be soldered onto the central terminal on the board. The negative terminal is going to be the large spring from the Dropin. Check that the +ve disk fits in the recess and pop the large spring around it fit the body and make sure all fits properly, you may need to shorten the -ve spring to make the body screw right down. Also check that the battery is close enough to contact the switch. I used an Oveready Zerorez as this setup overheats the stock SF switch.
Once you are happy with the fit, disassemble, and solder the +ve wire to the +ve on the Spring Board pass the -ve wire through the hole in the disc that you made, bear the wire to expose 1/2 in of wire and wrap the wire around the spring wire and solder. Keep the wires as short as you can, and dress them inside the recess when you assemble the head. Once you are happy with the mod you can glue the +ve disk to the bulkhead.
Fit the body and you're done. Check that the Led is centered. This runs well on an Aw 18650 with a bored body, don't use a higher voltage or the Led will fry.
The light from the modded light is similar to the light from a P3X, same beam and a bit brighter.
I've just dedomed my Led the throw is more like a Malkoff Hound Dog than a P3X.
Last edited:
